Barack Obama Elected President!

[Roman]

Whatever, dude.

I haven't heard one thing that indicates that.

So, they couldn't tell who would carry what block of voters.

You know........since he can't carry anyone but black voters.

[Ryan]

Bill Clinton has lost his [!@#$%^&*] mind.

[Roman]

And now you see, Ryan, why she just can't be on the same ticket with Obama.

The press would have a field day with all the stupid crap they both would say.

[Ryan]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080603/ap_on_el_pr/obama

Obama says he will meet Clinton after race ends

By TOM RAUM, Associated Press WriterMon Jun 2, 8:58 PM ET

Barack Obama said Monday he has asked Democratic presidential rival Hillary Rodham Clinton for a meeting on her terms "once the dust settles" from their race.

"The sooner we can bring the party together, the sooner we can start focusing on John McCain in November," Obama told reporters. He said he spoke with Clinton on Sunday when he called to congratulate her on winning the Puerto Rico primary.

Separately, in an interview with The Associated Press, Obama said he expects to pick up 15 delegates in Tuesday's final contests in South Dakota and Montana and expects superdelegates who have been holding back to then start flocking his way.

"A lot of people recognize that it is going to be time for us to pivot and move on" after Tuesday, Obama told the AP.

On the eve of the final two primaries, the Democratic presidential front-runner campaigned in Michigan and focused on McCain by highlighting the ailing economy. The state is a general election battleground where McCain months ago caused a stir by saying lost manufacturing jobs were not coming back.

Obama is on track to clinch the Democratic nomination as soon as Tuesday's primaries.

"It is my sense that between Tuesday and Wednesday we have a good chance of getting that number" of delegates, he said.

Obama said he apologized again to Clinton for racially charged remarks made by Rev. Michael Pfleger, who mocked Clinton last month during a sermon at Obama's church. Obama has since resigned his 20-year membership in the Trinity United Church of Christ.

In the AP interview, Obama was asked when he expected to start considering running-mate candidates.

"The day after I have gotten that last delegate needed to officially claim the nomination, I'll start thinking about vice presidential nominees. I think it's likely to come this week," he said. "It's a very important decision, and it's one where I'm going to have to take some time."

He said there were a lot of superdelegates who have been private supporters of his but who have wanted to respect the process by not endorsing until now, and he respects that. But he thinks that will change after Tuesday's primaries.

"Once the last votes are cast, then it's in everybody's interest to resolve this quickly so we can pivot. We're less than three months away from our convention. So we've got a lot of work to do in terms of bringing the party together," he told the AP.

Earlier, Obama criticized President Bush's economic policies as being partly to blame for making Michigan the highest unemployment state in the nation. He told a rally and town hall-style meeting at a packed high school gymnasium in the Detroit suburb of Troy that McCain "wants to double down on the Bush economic plan."

As had McCain, Obama acknowledged that "in fairness, some of these challenges are the product of larger forces beyond the control of government." He said industries must learn to retool and retrain workers to keep up with changing trends.

Still, "there is no doubt that the Bush economic policies have done little to help the working families of Michigan or build a better future for America," Obama said.

He sought to reassure divided Democrats that he and Clinton will be working together in November despite fears by some that the Democratic Party will be divided after the long and bitter primary campaign.

Obama told the rally that he understands there have been "some worries about whether the Democratic Party will be divided when it's all over."

"There's been thinking, well, are the Clinton folks going to support the Obama folks and are the Obama folks going to get together with the Clinton folks," Obama said.

"Senator Clinton has run an outstanding race, she is an outstanding public servant, and she and I will be working together in November," Obama said.

Obama campaigned in Michigan two days after being awarded delegates from the state, in which neither he nor any other major Democratic candidate campaigned. Obama's name wasn't even on the ballot. Both parties see Michigan as a key swing state in the general election.

"While we've been talking about a recession in this country for a few months now, Michigan has been living it for a very long time," Obama said. "Workers and communities across this state have been struggling for years with the downturn that all of America is feeling today."

McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds called Obama's claims about McCain "pure politics."

"Obama's specifically ignoring John McCain's strong record of fighting wasteful government spending, his comprehensive proposals for displaced workers and his firm opposition to raising taxes on small business and working families during an economic downturn," Bounds said.

A young man who said he was a new driver asked Obama, "When will gas prices go down?"

"We are not going to be able to lower gas prices immediately," Obama said. He said he recognized this caused problems in the short term when "just getting to work is hard these days."

Obama talked about moving toward cleaner energy, and investigating whether energy companies were engaging in price-gouging and market manipulation. "If that's what they're doing ... I intend to go after them as president of the United States," he said.

Ahead of Obama's talk, two more Michigan superdelegates endorsed him.

Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence told the crowd at Troy High School waiting for Obama's arrival that she was supporting the Illinois senator and Michigan Education Association Executive Director Lu Battaglieri says he also is endorsing Obama. That gives Obama seven Michigan superdelegates, tying the number Clinton has in the state.

It was Obama's second visit to Michigan in three weeks to introduce himself to voters.

McCain in January said some of the hard-hit automotive state's jobs were never coming back.

But subsequently, he held out the promise for new jobs for Michigan.

"Of course the old kinds of doing business is not coming back," McCain said in April. "But the new innovation and new technology and green technology that will both eliminate our dependence on foreign oil as well as greenhouse gas emissions is right here in the state of Michigan. But we've got to retrain and educate workers to take advantage of that opportunity."

____

Associated Press writer Kathy Hoffman in Troy, Mich., contributed to this report.

[Jess]

I think they know that Obama is going to do very very well with young voters, new voters and the traditional Democratic vote. What they don't know is how well McCain will turn out his base and how white men over 40 who have given Republicans their majorities will vote. For example, all those white guys who voted for Hillary in the primaries have histories of voting Republican in fall campaigns. They vote in Democratic primaries for local offices or because it's an open primary state and the democratic presidential race was still open.

You look at a lot of the "patrician Republicans" who vote economic issues. McCain's is not inspiring confidence, but can they vote for Obama. I think they big group in this campaign really is going to be the younger vote and they get so much of their information of the internet. In some ways, they are an invisible group. They don't get polled, because they are first-time registrants and are not on a lot of the call lists that you purchase. They also fall into that group of citizens who are primary cell phone users so they don't get reached through RDD. And, historically, white males -- sorry guys -- of a certain generation have lied about voting preferences when it involves women or minority candidates. For a very long time, women lied because they didn't want to say they were voting opposite of their husbands. That is changing, with women except those of a certain age and economic standing.

[DevotedToAMC]

I heard he told off someone but not sure what it was about

[Roman]

Excellent post, Jess.

[DevotedToAMC]

Here is an article from CBS News (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/02/usnews/whispers/main4147053.shtml)

Democrats And Obama Should Not Try To Force Hillary Clinton Out Of The Race

By Bonnie Erbe

May 30, 2008

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(US News) So Democratic leaders have read the new Pew poll showing Sen. Barack Obama to be the favorite among Democratic voters, and their decision is to ramp up the pressure on Sen. Hillary Clinton to drop out of the presidential nomination race next week. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada will be joined by Democratic Party leader Howard Dean next week in asking uncommitted superdelegates to make up their minds and commit to a candidate. That, so the messy nomination process can be cleaned up and their candidate can proceed into the general election phase unhindered. Is this a wise move or not?

If the Pew poll is right and if its results hold until November (the former less certain than the latter), such a move could alienate Clinton supporters even further from the Democratic Party. The Pew poll shows Obama's negatives are way higher than they were earlier in the campaign, particularly among white women and independents:

These trends mirror shifting patterns of support for the candidates in the general election matchup. Currently, Obama and McCain run even among independents (44% to 44%); in April, Obama enjoyed a 52% to 41% advantage among these pivotal voters. Similarly, Obama now trails McCain among white women (by 49% to 41%), who were more evenly divided in previous surveys.

Obama supporters I've spoken with are having trouble understanding why Clinton remains in the race when, by their count and by the media's count, it is over, over, over. Clinton supporters are equally adamant she still has a chance of winning and take umbrage at suggestions she should drop out now. Polls take a snapshot in time. Any poll taken today will more likely be wrong than right by the time the general election takes place in November. But any move, whether by the Obama campaign or by the Democratic leadership, to shove Clinton out of the way stands to do more harm than good with her supporters. Her campaign has drawn the majority support of older white women and white working-class voters. All the Democratic Party need do is review the percentages and demographic patterns of the 2004 presidential election. As I have written before, Clinton's constituents make up a much larger percentage of the general electorate: Overall, 125,736,000 Americans voted, 99.5 million of them being "white non-Hispanic," 14 million African-American, 7.5 million Hispanic, and 2.7 million Asian-American.As the Census Bureau reported in 2006:

The voting rate was higher among the older citizen population than the younger citizen population. The rate for citizens 55 and older was 72 percent in the 2004 presidential election, compared with 47 percent among 18- to 24-year-old citizens.

In that year, there were 27 million Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 eligible to vote versus 64 million age 55 and older. The latter group is some 2½ times the size of the former. Almost 9 million more women voted than men in '04.No doubt Obama will boost voter participation rates among young persons and persons of color. No doubt he will wrap up the nomination--and soon. But he cannot win the general election without majority support from Clinton's backers. So much of whether they join his team is based on how he and the Democratic leadership conduct themselves and how they handle Clinton, which should be with great delicacy. This is especially true since CNN is now running a story about how in his first run for the Illinois State Senate Obama forced another woman out of the way to win the nomination for that race.

[Roman]

He can win without her.

Period.

It should surprise no one that Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.,) the highest ranking black in congressional leadership, has endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination.

After all, black South Carolinians went overwhelmingly (80 percent) for Obama and that was a result Clyburn, the state's most important black politician, was never going to buck.

Meanwhile, Clyburn had expressed disappointment several times with remarks by Sen. Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton that many interpreted as racially tinged disparagement of Obama or even Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

On NBC's "Today" show where he officially made his announcement, Clyburn deflected host Matt Lauer's attempt to make it look as if he was playing it safe by waiting until the end of the process when it was clear Obama would be the nominee before publicly making his move.

No, Clyburn said earnestly, looking like an undertaker (for Clinton's campaign, perhaps?) As a superdelegate, he merely hadn't wanted to insert himself into the primary process, preferring to give voters the chance to make their choice known first.

President Clinton used to have a saying, that he would stand by voters until the last dog dies.

Clyburn probably is the sign that the last dog is close to dying.

Clyburn also sent a message to other superdelegates that they needed to get aboard the Obama train, the sooner the better, maybe even tonight so the party can unify and direct its undivided attention towards winning the White House.

If House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ever comes out and endorses Obama, then it can truly be said that the last dog has died for the Clintons.

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[2shane8]

I have had trouble understanding, for the longest time, why Obama supporters (including many of my friends) have been viciously calling for Clinton to back out, as though Obama has been winning by some LARGE MARGIN. He's never been ahead by any large margin, and it's obvious that the Democratic party was split down the middle with their preferences.

Hillary is a fighter, and while she should probably back out NOW, she should NOT have backed out before.

And if she doesn't run as an Independent (which I know she will not; she is devoted to the Democratic party), you can bet that myself and many others will be writing her in on the ballot in November.

[Soapsuds]

We will just have to wait and see. Don't count your chickens before they hatch. You could have egg all over your face in November. I am just saying.

Great post Shane!!

[Ryan]

I don't think it's right to pressure Hillary to back out. If she's anything like me, pressuring me to do something I don't want to do will just make me more defiant. Hillary is a fighter. She's driven. She's someone who likes a challenge. The fact that this race has never been complete cut and dry shows how passionate people are about their candidates.

In a perfect world, Hillary would have backed out a while ago, once it was determined that her chances of winning her slimmer and slimmer. But you have to admire her tenacity. I can't say that I would be "big" enough to drop my aspirations of becoming President. To be so close to this goal, and to have to deal with people telling me to give up, to support the other person would be VERY hard for ANY person to do. In that regards, I sympathize with Hillary and understand why she has stayed in up to this point.

However............this race has showed exactly what many of Hillary's critics have said about her for years. That she's polarizing, that she's divisive. The Democratic party cannot afford to lose the White House this November. It is imperative that we retake what the Republicans have ruined the past 8 years.

My problem with her stems from her changing her method of winning. At first it was going to be the delegates. Then when it became evident that it may not happen there, it was the superdelegates. Then when that argument began to become slimmer, it turned to the popular vote (which leaves out certain states that Obama won). In the mean time, she's threatening to take this all the way to the convention. Because I'm not in this situation, I can't say I wouldn't do the same thing, but given that I'm from the outside looking at this, you CANNOT divide this party any more than it already it.

If the shoe were on the other foot, and Obama was trailing, people would be on his ass to drop out of the race. The pundits would jump down his throat for putting his own political aspirations ahead of the Democratic Party. I have a lot of respect for Mitt Romney. He could have continued on in the race, and I'm sure he probably would have won a few more contests and even bit a chunk of McCain's momentum....but he withdrew for the benefit of the party. I'm also sure he was jockeying for a VP or cabinet position, but he put the goal of the party ahead of his own.

[Ryan]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080603/ap_on_el_pr/clinton

Clinton set to concede delegate race to Obama

By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Writer 9 minutes ago

Hillary Rodham Clinton will concede Tuesday night that Barack Obama has the delegates to secure the Democratic nomination, campaign officials said, effectively ending her bid to be the nation's first female president.

Obama is 40 delegates shy of clinching the nomination, but he is widely expected to make up the difference Tuesday with superdelegate support and votes in South Dakota and Montana. Once he reaches the magic number of 2,118, Clinton will acknowledge that he has secured the necessary delegates to be the nominee.

The former first lady will stop short of formally suspending or ending her race in her speech in New York City.

She will pledge to continue to speak out on issues like health care. But for all intents and purposes, the two senior officials said, the campaign is over.

Most campaign staff will be let go and will be paid through June 15, said the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to divulge her plans.

The advisers said Clinton has made a strategic decision to not formally end her campaign, giving her leverage to negotiate with Obama on various matters including a possible vice presidential nomination for her. She also wants to press him on issues he should focus on in the fall, such as health care.

Universal health care, Clinton's signature issue as first lady in the 1990s, was a point of dispute between Obama and the New York senator during their epic nomination fight.

Clinton was at home in Chappaqua, N.Y., with her husband, former President Clinton, and was placing calls to friends and supporters.

[JackPeyton]

the margin is still rather close, she should not pull out and i would say the same thing if it was flipped.

i still think its really f'ed p the populer vote doesnt win the white house, it should.

[Roman]

:lol: :lol: Good thing I don't listen to what you have to say.

Just saying, you know.